If you’ve been charged with a crime in the State of Maryland, it’s possible that the police have sought and received an arrest warrant from a judge. If that happens, often times you will not know about the warrant until you have an encounter with the police. If the police have a warrant for your arrest, they will arrest you on sight. Often times, people don’t know that there’s a warrant for their arrest until it’s too late. However, an attorney can help you determine if there’s a warrant for your arrest and prepare you for the consequences associated with that warrant.
Once you are charged with a crime in the State of Maryland, you will be required to perform certain tasks or risk subjecting yourself to a bench warrant. Once a bench warrant is issued, the police will be instructed to arrest you on sight. Once you’ve been arrested, there is a greater likelihood of you facing increased penalties in the original case. Additionally, you risk being held without bond until you can receive a hearing. The following actions will likely result in a bench warrant being issued:
Failing to appear in court for a scheduled hearing
Violating a court order
Failing to pay fines and costs as ordered
Failing to obey the conditions of parole or probation
Failing to complete treatment, classes, or community service as ordered
Unlike arrest warrants, bench warrants are almost always a part of public records. This means that an attorney can be of assistance in seeking to have the warrant quashed (withdrawn). Having a lawyer quash your warrant means that you won’t have to face arrest and detention while awaiting a hearing.
A search warrant is different from the other warrants discussed above. It is close to impossible to know in advance if the police have a search warrant for you, your home, car, etc. A search warrant is an order from a judge authorizing the police to search a specific location for evidence of specific crimes. The police can get search warrants to search essentially anything, but some common locations include:
Houses
Vehicles
Computers
Cell Phones
Places of Business
Once a search warrant is being executed, there’s really not a whole lot to do other than to wait for the police to finish and hire a lawyer to discuss the situation as soon as possible. It is important to not answer any questions or talk to the police at all until you have hired a lawyer.
If you have any questions about a warrant, call Bradley Shepherd at BSS Law, LLC to discuss it today! 443-274-1003.